Melissa Gaskill, one of the workshop presenters and a graduate assistant from the Career and Professional Development Center, kept the workshop personal as she encouraged questions and interactions from the students.

“Your resume is your recipe to make, so make it your own,” said Gaskill. “If you’re a leader, emphasize it. Find your strengths and don’t be afraid to display them.”

Gaskill encouraged the students to use bullet points, short sentences, and work experience that is most relevant to the job rather than most recent.

“Employers want to breeze through brief sentences without being hung up on paragraphs,” Gaskill said. “If a paragraph is too long, or even if a sentence is too long, the employer simply won’t read it.”

During these workshops, students saw examples of what to include in categories such as qualifications, work history, education, and skills. The workshop not only covered necessary components to include in a resume, but also addressed proper cover letter structure and interview etiquette.

Among the 125 students who attended one of the workshops was John Sproull, a junior studying finance. “Resumania gave me the opportunity to adjust and reformat all the little things my personal resume needed,” Sproull said. “It’s unbelievable to see how small changes in phrases and formatting can make a difference
in the quality of your resume.”

Kyle Fine, senior marketing and management major, appreciates that Eberly and CPDC helps students with preparation and placement. “I continue to take advantage of every opportunity that I can to obtain input and assistance on my resume and job search process,” Fine said. “Resumania is a fun way to get students motivated
and involved!”

“We want our upperclassmen to be prepared for the upcoming recruitment season and our incoming students to learn about what makes a well-rounded candidate,” said Cynthia Strittmatter, assistant dean for Administration in the Eberly College, who oversees the Corporate Relations and
Internship Office for Eberly. “We review the importance of academic success, relevant work experience, and extracurricular involvement, and guide students in creating a single-page document that is well-formatted and clear.”

Students have been busy working on their resumes and interviewing skills as they prepare for Accounting Career Day (September 16), IUP Career Expo (September 30) WestPACS (October 14), and several campus interviews scheduled for the fall term.